


Doubles

by Ylevihs



Series: How Not to Fall [33]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: Awkwardness, Established Relationship, M/M, Retribution Spoilers, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-20 21:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21288797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ylevihs/pseuds/Ylevihs
Summary: Who even goes on double dates anymore?
Relationships: Herald/Sidestep (Fallen Hero), Ortega/Chen (Fallen Hero)
Series: How Not to Fall [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1327892
Kudos: 26





	Doubles

“So,”

“So.”

“You and Daniel got a dog?” not the worst topic of conversation. Dogs. They could do animals without trouble. A safe spot. Neutral territory between two sides who weren’t quite sure if the war was still on. If there had ever really been a fight in the first place.

Richard rubbed the back of his neck and hated how open the place was. He’d sat with his back to the front door, a sort of olive branch. They were diagonal from each other, if for nothing else than to create an illusion of a little space. Polite distance. “Yep. Her uh, her name’s Edith,”

“Edith. That’s…,” the end of the sentence said ‘an unconventional dog name’. Chen, apparently aware that his own dog was named after a mental health metaphor and kitchen utensil, changed direction. “Nice,” nice. A positive term. “Are you going to bring her to the park?”

“Yeah, soon. I hope she and Spoon get along,” she was still getting used to the apartment and the areas around it. Even though he could keep her calm if he needed to, Richard still didn’t want to overwhelm her just yet with new experiences. Edith had shown herself to be shy and a bit submissive. Sweet.

Richard looked down in time to realize that his hands had been left unattended and were ripping the paper band that had held the tableware together apart. Dangerous things those fingers. He scooped the shreds together and nudged them to the side, hoping some keen eyed server would come and take them away.

“Mhm,” non-committal. Unsure of where to go with that and Chen glanced quickly at the door and. Nope. Still no sign of Ricardo or Daniel. He could tell by the look on Chen’s face. The silence that crept over the table began making awkward faces at the both of them, daring each one to be the one to speak first.

There shouldn’t have been tension. They were just waiting for the other two, after all. And, sure, they had never gotten along particularly well. But they’d managed back then. They were managing perfectly well now. At their meetings at the park. ‘Chance’ encounters that they both knew weren’t entirely accidental anymore. So long as they kept to small talk. Weather. Dogs. And they were sort of almost not quite wouldn’t call it friends. Still too much distance for that. Still felt too deep a canyon between either side to risk a real leap.

A white aproned waiter drifted by and refilled their glasses of water. A quick hand removed the paper shreds.

“Seven o’ clock,” Chen said after a moment, watching the ice settle in his glass. They’d both chosen to wait for Ricardo and Daniel instead of going ahead and ordering drinks. “Right?”

Richard nodded slowly. “Seven on the dot,” confirming it. They weren’t too early, and now at seven fifteen, Danny and Ricardo weren’t too late. Enough for the time between to sit oddly on both of them like an undersized coat. “What are the odds they’re planning something?”

“High,” Chen nodded to himself, almost rubbing his jaw before the fingers fell back to the table. Civilian hands. The false flickering light in the center of the table cast shadows into the shallow divots left behind by Spoon’s attentions. “They planned this didn’t they?” he made a small gesture to the restaurant as a whole.

It was a decent place. Not eyebrow raising upscale, but clearly Ricardo’s choice rather than Danny’s. Higher quality table cloths, lower golden lighting. A wine list as long as the menu, which Richard had done his best to slide towards the other side of the table as soon as he’d sat down. Quiet but crisp wait staff. Passable both as a date night and business meeting locale. A fair mix of couples and suits. People who were going to largely be too concerned with their own affairs. Richard had been projecting an ‘ignore me’ aura well enough for Chen to almost walk straight by his table.

“True. Very true,” it certainly wasn’t as if he or Chen would ever plan a. Well.

A double date.

Only the combined thinking power of those two could come up with.

And the perpetrators of the cliché were nowhere in sight. Didn’t even show up on time to watch them both squirm. Cowards. But. They’d only made the suggestion for it, Chen and Richard had both been too weak to say no.

Another agonizing minute ticked by, filled with the chattering hum of the other patrons. And Chen taking in a breath. “Is…there a story behind ‘Edith’?” Words on tiptoe. Carefully on the egg shells. Richard fought back the wince and succeeded. That much was allowable. It was back to the safe topic after all.

“She uh….She’s not named after a person, if that’s what you were wondering,” Richard’s hands were now folding the fabric napkin into a fairly floppy crane. Chen very loudly did not make the accusation that Richard could see what he was wondering. If he wanted to. They’d both arrived at opposite sides of that bridge and decided by shouting over the river that neither of them really wanted to cross it anyway, thank you very much for asking though. “But uh. She looks a little like a grandma, I suppose,”

Chen blinked at him for a moment before his mouth seemed to catch up. “…what?” but the tone was. Hm. Verging into amused, which was. It was a nice sound. 

“Curly and grey. Well, mostly black and off white, you know?” and to Richard’s mild surprise, Chen nodded along to the rhetorical question. “Grey enough to make it look like she’s older than she actually is,” sip of the water, this was going okay. All going okay. “The vet’s office said she was maybe three, but if they hadn’t I’d have guessed at least three times that,” a small pause for consideration of the logic.

“And ‘Edith’ is a granny name?” Chen’s eyebrows lifted slightly and this time the way his eyes darted over to the door seemed a little less urgent. Maybe. Or maybe Richard was just hoping that one of them could stop being so anxious about how the rest of the evening would play out. It certainly wasn’t going to be him.

“I’ve never met a young Edith,” although to be perfectly fair, he’d never met any Ediths at all. But the name had arrived in his head and once it got attached to the dog, it had stuck. She was Edith no matter what now.

Another glance over his shoulder and. Chen visibly relaxed a fraction. Tensed back up. Almost impossible to see unless one was looking for it. His eyes flickered back to Richard and Richard did his best not to turn around. Not distress. Something like bewildered amusement. A slight snort.

“Oh, God,” the lines around his eyes shallowed and it was once again such a subtle process to see. Perhaps because it was in public and Chen was still marshaling-ha-his emotions but. Richard knew he had it bad. Had known for a long while. But. Seeing the cautious happiness soften his eyes and the corners of his mouth and. Sunk. Absolutely. Didn’t even need to be a psychic to tell. “Looks like they stopped to pick up something,” and the half smile twisted back, a failed attempt to keep it from spreading over his entire face. He snorted again and took a sip of water as if that would be the thing to save him from his own. 

Richard felt the familiar brush of Daniel’s thoughts about two seconds before the “Sorry we’re late,” and Daniel sitting beside him, all smiles. The low light of the place cast some very interesting shadows over his face, highlighted others, and Richard felt his own face brightening to return the expression. Helpless to resist it. Too handsome by far.

“Have you ordered anything yet?” Ricardo sunk down into the seat beside Chen, placing both a small white-wrapped package and a sleek envelope on the tablecloth. As close to the center of it as he could without knocking over the fake candle. “This place has a great spicy chickpea appetizer thing and,” And Richard tuned out a little to turn his attention back to Daniel.

“Not like you to be late,” a gentle push. Quiet, even under the baseline chatter of the restaurant and Ricardo, who was apparently trying to dispel his own nerves by reading every item on the menu out loud to the table. Daniel smiled guiltily. His thoughts were light and shimmery, the edges of them too hazy to make out unless Richard put some effort into it. He didn’t.

“Ricardo had an idea to,” Daniel trailed a little bit before dropping his voice and leaning in close. Obligingly, Richard leaned in as well. Two regular gossips, whispering about their table mates. “Pick up a little gift,”

“Yes.” Richard said slowly. “I _can_ see that,” he lifted his eyebrows. Daniel folded slightly and then regained a little structure. Confidence. A surreptitious wink.

“You’ll see at the end of dinner,” he gently nudged an elbow against Richard’s arm and straightened back up. Ah, so that’s how it was. A small but devilishly tempting thought cleared its throat and urged Richard to dip into Daniel’s mind and spoil the surprise. He shushed it and swung his attention back up, just in time to see Ricardo putting his menu on the table and leaning forward. Resting his chin on his knuckles and smirking first at Richard and then at Daniel and. Focusing in on Danny.

Poor fool took the bait. Richard felt a slight urge to delay the inevitable. He ignored it in favor of leaning his own weight back to get a better view of the exchange. “Um?” and Ricardo’s smirk deepened to an all-out grin.

“Oh, I was just remembering something is all,” he was suddenly all false concern. “Wondering whether or not you’d told Richie yet,” a dangerous look in his eyes but the tone of voice was all surface. All teasing. Daniel furrowed his eyebrows and Richard felt the flutter of mild confusion. Gentle offense, of course he hadn’t told Richard what was in the. “Not this,” Ricardo flippantly reached over and tapped the envelope on the table. “About how I caught you two days ago,” the reaction was immediate, Daniel stiffening and face going pink. “Practicing your new signature,”

What? Richard felt his stomach do an interesting acrobatic move and kick his brain while also sinking into his feet. Daniel wasn’t particularly good at subtlety and Richard had felt him trying out the name. Trying it on for size. Ever since he’d let the media know that he was dating a man, he’d been a bit more open about. Well, all of it that he could be. A bit more flutter in the chest excited about it, if such a thing was possible.

Chen echoed the surprise. “Oh?”

“Instead of taking notes at the latest meeting,” Ricardo was beaming now, the possibility of being able to embarrass Daniel apparently too strong to resist dragging it out. “You know how he normally just doodles when he’s spaced out?” Chen nodded gently, Daniel sunk a little in his seat. Something in Richard was trying to balance finding it as amusing as Ricardo clearly did and being as mortified as Daniel. Different reasoning. “Well it turns out he was practicing his new name, all up and down the margins, _Daniel Abekket_, even put little hearts around some,”

Daniel sputtered but Richard was knee jerk quick.

“We’re not engaged, Ortega,” snapped out before Richard could stop it. An ugly massive thing was twisting around his windpipe. That hadn’t been the right thing to say in more ways than one and he could feel it digging in and. Take a sip of water. See if that couldn’t dislodge the little demon in his voice box. And then, equally unbidden and terrifying and seemingly out of his control: “Yet,”

Chen blinked and sat a little straighter, his expression difficult to read but not exactly approving. It was enough to redirect Ricardo’s attention. “Yet, he says,” with relish. A moment’s pause as Daniel squirmed and Richard debated ordering a stronger drink and.

“During the meeting about–,” Chen didn’t finish the question, but his voice brought Richard’s mild anxiety to a halt. Another egg shell. Chen unsure if he could finish the sentence around a. Neither of them sure if Richard counted as a civilian. It was better that he went down the professional route anyway, Richard told himself. He didn’t think he could handle having yet another marriage discussion, this time with Chen involved. 

“It won’t happen again,” Daniel said softly and it felt like a stab in Richard’s lungs. More directed at his boss for goofing off during a meeting; a few faint barbs in each direction. Wouldn’t do that in public again, aimed at Richard. It landed the hit best on Ricardo, smile dropping away in an instant and a look of. Hm.

“Oh, hey, I’m not calling you out on—those meetings are always boring as hell,” an awkward beat and Ricardo was clearly searching his memory for a more embarrassing time of when he’d been spacing out during a meeting. Thankfully a waiter arrived to take their orders. Divert at least some of the attention away and towards the refreshing uh and um of ‘what would you recommend?’

Thankfully both Daniel and Ricardo seemed willing to drop the subject. Chen didn’t seem like he wanted to pick it up at all. At least not right now. Richard, without wanting to, could feel the tidbit of information being squirreled away to do goodness only knew with it later. Another dangerous aspect of Chen—the man didn’t seem easily forgetful.

The conversation, when it started back up, was halting at first. They tried to avoid work discussions; difficult for men like them where work was all they really had to do with their time. Work or not at work, and most of not at work was getting ready for or recovering from work. Chen had asked in a slightly narrow way if things were going well where Richard worked. A bit of emphasis on the unspoken ‘where exactly _do_ you work?’ because the lie of ‘internet development’ was a little too vague for his taste. And then a transition to safer topics, the weather, sports, collective quiet groans about physical therapy. Less quiet groans about physical therapy as Ricardo made the smooth transition to getting older being a source of great personal insult to him.

“—right on the cover! 30 heroes over 35 who can still ‘light a spark’, what. I don’t even know what that,” Ricardo stabbed a carrot with his fork and began gesticulating. “What is that supposed to mean? That as soon as I hit over 35 I’m just supposed to be a gross old man?”

“Of course not, everyone knows you’re old at 25 and practically ancient by 35,” Ricardo took a moment to register that Chen was teasing him and then sneered playfully. “Make it to 45 and you qualify to be a wise man on a mountain top,”

“Shut up, Wei,” but light. “My point is it’s not worth a whole magazine cover—a whole list!”

“But you were top of the list, weren’t you?” Chen took an amused sip of his beer. “Number one?”

Ricardo preened, muscle memory. “Wh-I mean, of course I was,”

It was a little weird, seeing them like that. The old, well-traveled streets suddenly ending in new locations. New storefronts with eye catching displays. Or, in Ricardo’s case, old storefronts that he’d never peaked into. Chen was good at hiding it, but every once and a while, during a lull in conversation, Richard could feel the nervous and unsteady pleasure. Enjoying the evening but not able to let himself actually enjoy the evening. Not. Richard didn’t press.

That wasn’t any of his business.

The food was good enough to focus on. The beer was fine. Every once and a while Daniel would lean over and whisper about his day, not wanting to interrupt the other two as they. Not quite shamelessly flirted. Something knocked against his foot and Richard dimly realized, shameless flirting indeed, it was the side of Daniel’s own shoe. His knee, the good one, bumping into Richard’s. Richard took the chance and above the table cloth, on the table top. Where. People, which included a large subset of Ricardo and Chen, could see. Slid his hand against the back of Daniel’s and held it softly.

And as the night wore on, more and more people filtered out until all but four or five tables remained. Daniel had opted for dessert, dragging out the affair a little longer, but Richard found he couldn’t complain that much. He’d started catching the way Ricardo’s eyes would flicker over to Chen’s mouth when he spoke and it was taking a great deal of will power not to snicker every time it happened.

No bill came or left. Richard had left more than enough money to cover whatever anyone would order, plus a healthy pre-service tip, at the register when he saw he’d been the first to arrive. It earned him a tight glare from Ricardo and a muffled chuckle from Chen who saw how Ricardo was on the verge of fuming.

“Well. Then all that leaves us are these,” Daniel knocked his knuckles against the small box and the envelope. He and Ricardo shared a glance and then Daniel took the envelope and slid it across the table to end its journey in front of Richard. Ricardo did the same with the package.

“Not ominous at all,” Chen muttered, taking the small box and after a quick glance to the side to gauge Ricardo’s reactions, shaking it. “Small. And light. Metallic? If you did something like get me a key,” he continued.

“Just open the damn thing,” Ricardo rolled his eyes, voice dripping with fondness. It was a strange sound coming from him, all earnest and open and. It settled oddly. A genuine thing.

“Yours too,” Daniel nudged him again, a sly grin on his face. Richard held his gaze, watching with a potent mixture of confusion and mild dread as Daniel’s smile got wider. The paper tore easily with a quick finger down the seam and. A small note, and a photograph facing away from him.

Across the table, Chen had opened his own gift, only to find a floppy disc. A look of sharp recognition and then the disc was back in the box. Sharp enough to cut, apparently. “Ricardo,” and a wince was the only response. The grin stayed in place. Guilty but not that guilty, obviously.

Ah, beans. That didn’t bode well for whatever Richard’s note was going to read. He lifted it open with the same sort of care usually reserved for someone diffusing a bomb. In Daniel’s slightly scratchy handwriting, a date. And the looping script words, ‘is this right?’. The date. It. The dread turned to ice and punched upwards. He felt like he was going to vomit. The date was right. How the hell what did they do how did they find out what did they have to do where did they look. His fucking _birthday_? Richard pulled the envelope further open, rather than risk taking the photo itself out. A photo of.

Her.

Clear as day and clearly recent. And clearly there in town.


End file.
